Son of a Legend
by Talarion
Summary: This is a story in which Hiruzen Sarutobi, The Sandaime Hokage, performed the Shiki Fuujin, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, meaning Minato Namikaze was left alive to raise his son as the hero he is.
1. Just a Little Bit Faster

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, in any way shape or form. As much as I wish I did, I don't.**

**A/N: Well, Hello there. I'm Talarion, and I doubt you know me. I've tried in the past to write fanfics... but I was young back then, and thought 2000 words made a good chapter. Well, I've wised up now, and I'm writing again. My apologies if this story seems a bit... fast paced, at the moment, I was trying to rush it forward. Just a short explanation, this fanfic entertains the logic 'If Sarutobi was just a bit faster in the Kyuubi's attack... What would happen?' If you notice in the manga, he was a bit too late and arrived after Minato erected a time/space barrier blocking in the Kyuubi for the sealing. But if he was faster, as he was in this fic, what would he do? I think he would take over the Shiki Fuujin sealing himself, and let Minato lead the younger generations, because his time was over. So, as sad as it is, there will be no Sarutobi in this fic. Or rather, there will be no Hiruzen. But there will be the other two Sarutobi's, Asuma and Konohamaru. Anyways, I've rambled on enough... Read the Disclaimer up there, in case you didn't. Read and Review... I want Reviews for feedback on my writing, because I know I need it. I'm nowhere near a professional writer, and any feedback or criticism is welcome. Hope you enjoy... Now read the fic.**

I

_Son of a Legend_

_Chapter One_

_Just a Little Bit Faster_

I

Minato Namikaze, one of the most powerful men in the world, known by the moniker 'Yellow Flash' due to his signature ability to teleport through time and space near-instantly, and his blonde hair being the most prominent thing seen when you are witnessing this legendary technique. Minato Namikaze, _this_ Minato Namikaze... was distraught. In a state of panic, even. Not an hour earlier had his home been attacked, and not just by anything. An army? Nothing, for the Yellow Flash. A Powerful Shinobi Army? A bit worse, but still. A rampaging entity of malice and destruction? A problem. A problem he managed to solve... At the cost of his predecessor, one of the strongest men known to the world, nicknamed 'The Professor' or 'The God of Shinobi'. At the cost of his beloved, too, it was seeming, as he could literally see the life bleeding out of her infront of his eyes. No wounds were on her, she was seemingly fine... but holding the said entity of malice and destruction for all of one's life formed a kind of symbiosis, parasitism rather. When one is removed, the other dies.

Tears dripped from his face to the ground below him, as he was on his knees, his face in his hands, his eyes unable to close, looking through his own fingers at Kushina Uzumaki.

"You can't die like this... I could've saved you.." He said, holding back the sobs of sorrow that threatened to tear through his tough façade. But the red-headed woman on the ground was smiling weakly, cuddling the child in her arms while she could.

"No, Minato... You know that my chakra coils are shredded. At the moment, it would take an entirely new chakra system... Even the Kyuubi can't do that. Maybe Tsunade could, but no one else. It's my time... And you're still alive, so you have to raise our son to be a big, strong man." Despite this supposedly carefree mask, a small sob wracked her frame, showing that, as always, no one wants to die.

"Don't linger over my death... You can't get absorbed by grief. What kind of role-model would you be, to stay in a stasis over someone long gone?" Kushina whispered, she could feel her death approaching.

But Minato had other ideas. Something deep in his mind sparked, and all of his knowledge of seals started coming together. "Yes... that's it!" He exclaimed as the links before him clicked together, fell into place. "Stasis! That's the key!" Minato was excited, as with practiced speed he started carving a seal into the stone around and below Kushina.

She, however, was confused. Had Minato gone mad with her impending death? "Minato.. what are you doing?" Kushina quietly said, as she tried to follow him with her eyes.

Minato was focused, concentrating like a man with something he holds dear was on the line. Quickly he finished the inscribings around her, before pulling out a kunai. "I'm creating a stasis seal. It will only last a few days, maybe only a few hours, but that's enough time to come up with something more permanent!"

Kushina tried to work it over in her mind, as Minato quickly pulled off his shirt, carving a seal directly on his stomach, ignoring the pain. "Okay... are you ready?" He made the tiger seal, to focus his chakra as with his free hand he gently scooped up his son from Kushina's arms. "Fuuin!"

Suddenly, the space around Kushina visibly froze, her an expression of slight confusion paused on her face, as if Minato had pressed the pause button on a remote control. Minato collapsed. _'It worked...'_ He thought, relieved. His son, Naruto Uzumaki, began to cry. He glanced to the side, where Hiruzen's body laid, immobile.

With a small flurry of leaves and a whirlwind, two Anbu appeared, just outside of the markings that signalled the barrier around the ceremonial throne. "W-what? The Sandaime Hokage died?" The Anbu with a stylised bear mask exclaimed, obviously surprised.

His partner, the one with a bird mask, was silent and solemn. "Yondaime Hokage-sama, what happened?" Said the Anbu, obviously wanting to step inside the barrier, but unable to.

Minato looked up, as the sorrow returned to his eyes in full force. "Hiruzen-sama... he arrived here before we sealed the Kyuubi. My plan... was to use the **Shiki Fuujin **_(Dead Demon Consuming Seal)_ to seal away half of the Kyuubi's chakra, while containing the rest in my son... He had other ideas. He interupted me before I could do it, and performed it himself. Then, as the Kyuubi went to strike down my son... He stopped it. I don't even think I would've been able to do so well... He bought me enough time to use the **Hakke no F****uuin Sh****iki **_(Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)_ to finish the process." He slowly worded the sentence, tired and wanting to leave.

The barrier fell down, and the Anbu were immediately at Sarutobi's side, head's bowed. "And Uzumaki-sama?" Asked the bear masked one, throwing a glance at said person.

Minato sighed. "I thought up a short-term stasis seal to buy myself time. Go back to Konoha, I'm setting this as a top-priority mission: Find Tsunade of the Sannin, and bring her back home. Tell her about all that has happened, haste is essential." He barked it out, like an order.

Both Anbu saluted. "Hai, Hokage-sama!" In a swirl of leaves, signifying **Shunshin no Jutsu **_(Body Flicker Technique)_, both Anbu dissapeared, taking the Sandaime Hokage's body back to the village for a proper funeral, leaving Minato to stand up, before dissapearing, using his famed **Hiraishin no Jutsu **_(Flying Thunder God Technique)_ to reappear in the Hokage Residence, a building made to house the Hokage's during their reign. The room he appeared in seemed bare, at first glance, but in a closer inspection, it was highly personalised, with a large double bed in the center of the room, with side-tables on either side of the bed. One one of the side-tables was a picture of Minato and a very pregnant Kushina, obviously only a month or so old. On the wall, next to a window, was a three-pronged kunai, the beacon for the aforementioned teleportation jutsu. In an adjacent room was a cot, obviously intended for the young boy in Minato's arms. Slowly, gently, he placed his son down in the bed, as the baby's cries started to die down, obviously tired and wanting to sleep.

I

_Konoha_

_A Day Later_

I

Minato sighed, holding a tiger seal. He had to leave Kushina alone for the night, and he could tell that his quick-made seal was failing already. He decided he was as ready as he ever would be, and cancelled the seal. Kushina looked surprised slightly as Minato seemingly teleported for her, before Minato placed a small slip of paper on her forehead, returning her to stasis.

"That should hold... For as long as I can keep the chakra flow going." His thoughts went to the seal carved into his stomach, giving access to his own chakra coils to keep the seal running. The seal he had placed on Kushina was a more powerful, stable version of the one he had originally used, and it allowed interaction, creating a thin shell of stasis around her. Silently, he picked her up, using **Hiraishin **_(Flying Thunder God)_ to return to his home, placing Kushina softly on the bed. Due to Kushina currently being unavailable to feed Naruto, Minato had requested that Mikoto Uchiha, having recently had a child aswell, and being a close friend of Kushina, to come in and feed Naruto, at least untill Kushina was back on her feet. She had just left, before he went to retrieve Kushina. He sighed, treading lightly into his son's room. His blue eyes settled on those of his son, and for a moment, they just traded looks... before Naruto started cooing and reaching out for his father. This brought a warm smile to the Hokage's lips, as he went over to carress his son's hair, getting more cooing noises from the baby.

"Being a father agrees with you, eh Minato?" A voice said behind him with a chuckle. Minato twirled around in surprise, his eyes settling on his teacher, his mentor, Jiraiya the Toad Sage.

"Jiraiya-sensei! When did you get here?" Minato exclaimed, the surprise evident on his face.

Jiraiya's grin turned slightly lopsided as he replied, "Just now. I thought I'd drop in to see how my favourite student is going." But as he said that, his face turned serious. "As soon as I heard about the attack I came running. I was only a full days travel away... Is it true that Sarutobi-sensei died?"

Minato nodded, his face falling slightly. "Yes... I saw it happen."

Jiraiya frowned slightly. "And Kushina?"

Minato's face fell even more, as he spoke to his sensei. "Kushina... is barely alive."

This elicited a look of surprise from Jiraiya; He'd heard that Minato resealed the Kyuubi in Naruto, so... how could Kushina be alive? Her entire chakra system should be torn to shreds!

Seeing the look on his face, Minato nodded slightly. "I made a seal, to pause space/time around Kushina... I need Tsunade to repair her chakra coils."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jiraiya sharply shook his head. "No! It wouldn't work, not even Tsunade can do that, Minato, you know that!" He burst out vehemently; He wouldn't let Minato have false hope like that.

Minato however, pressed his point. "But it would work! I know that Tsunade can't fully repair them, but we have fuuinjutsu for a reason! I'm sure I could think up some substitute, or aid to her chakra coils that would allow them to function semi-normally!"

Jiraiya opened his mouth to retort, before the information sunk in. He closed his mouth and thought, a scowl on his face. After a minute of quiet contemplation, Jiraiya finally spoke up, "It would be hell complex... Although, If Tsunade could even partially repair her chakra pathways you could limit it to merely aiding the chakra coils... It would of course mean that she would have to build her reserves and control back up, like rehabilitation, but... It just might work. And as it so happens, it's about now when Tsunade swings back around to check up on this place, just like me. You're in luck, Minato."

At this information, Minato let relief flood into his system. He already had versions of either seal partially designed; It wasn't a simple seal like the stasis one, and it also wouldnt require any chakra of his own, unlike the stasis seal... which was one hell of a drainer, he had to say.

Jiraiya clapped him on the shoulder. "Good luck, Minato. I hope you pull through on this one. I'm going to start helping repair the damage done... I'll come back with Tsunade once she gets here."

Minato nodded, as he slumped into a chair next to his now-sleeping son's bed. He looked at his son, before back to where Jiraiya was, because he was gone now.

I

_Konoha_

_A Few Days Later_

I

Over the last couple of days, Jiraiya had been in and out, and Minato had been busy. Constantly having to hold at least one Kage Bunshin to deal with his duties as Hokage, or if they had to be attended to personally, the Kage Bunshin would research and work on the seal in his place. He hardly had enough time to sleep. Especially with all the paperwork flooding in; It was ridiculous. He was just glad that most of the time, his son was quiet... A very well behaved baby, if he was any judge. He had too much to do... and this seal for Kushina was nearly finished. He hadn't tested it... but his theory was solid. It would work. In addition to the seal components that would act as a partial substitute for her chakra system, he added a number of other things. He worked in the Hiraishin seal, so he could be there whenever she needed him, he also included a chakra-conversion seal that would allow her to take in other's chakra, a fail-safe that would allow him (Or anyone who knew about the seal) to give her extra chakra, preferably to be used only when she was in dire condition. He was fully accounting for the possibility of chakra leaks in the future, because even with the help of Tsunade, her coils would still be a mess, a shadow of what they once were. Even if she came out of this alive, her life-span would also be shortened considerably. The seal was all but complete, he was just waiting on Tsunade now, and the waiting was horrible. Every now and then he would go in to check on the stasis seal on Kushina. It was keeping up. But every time he looked at her face, a pang of pain would cut through his soul, into his heart. It hurt seeing her like that.

When Tsunade finally showed up in the village, he was... excited, to say the least. He was sitting in his office, waiting. He heard the door open, as the blonde-haired Sannin stepped in... with his sensei, Jiraiya, entering from the window.

"I assume Jiraiya-sensei has informed you, Tsunade-san?" Minato said in response to her entrance.

Tsunade threw a glance at Jiraiya, before looking back at Minato. "Yes, he told me. It's impossible. Kushina is as good as dead. Even I can't completely fix something like this... I agree though, if you can somehow pull the miracle of stitching together her chakra system, she will survive. That, at least, you have to console you." She crossed her arms as she spoke, trying to convey that she couldn't do much more than prolong Kushina's suffering.

Minato's brows furrowed into a small scowl, before he looked at Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sensei, did you tell her about the seal?"

Jiraiya smiled slightly as his student directed these words as him, but before he could answer, Tsunade butted in.

"What seal?" Her voice was raised in a slightly higher pitch than normal, belying her confusion.

Minato looked back to Tsunade, a sigh escaping his lips before he began to explain. "It's a seal I thought up to... substitute for her chakra system. Not fully, but It will work. That's why I need you to run damage control... So Kushina survives long enough for my seal to work. Can you do it?" Tsunade merely nodded.

With that, Minato started walking, with purpose. He took Tsunade to the hospital, ordered them to give her anything she needed, before he strode right back out. A minute or so later, Kushina was lying on a hospital bed.

"I'm going to have to work fast... Minato, are you ready with that seal of yours?" With a conformation from Minato, Tsunade stepped up, and pulled the slip off.

Kushina started moving, breathing, her eyes darting around taking in where she was. "W-what... happened? Minato.. Tsunade?" She coughed slightly after finishing the sentence, as Tsunade was already passing her hands above Kushina's form in a diagnostic medic jutsu.

Then, with a sigh, Tsunade pressed her right hand directly to Kushina's stomach, her left hand going to Kushina's forehead. "I'm going to put you out, now. I'll wake you up when I'm done." And with that, Kushina's eyes went blank, unconscious. Tsunade brought her left hand, which was now glowing with green medical chakra, back to Kushina's stomach. Minato waited patiently. "If done right, this should only take a few minutes... I have to concentrate on keeping her alive while I repair her system... Then we'll have to put her on life-support while her chakra coils regain chakra. Otherwise she'll just die from chakra exhaustion; her body isn't used to this lack of chakra."

Minato nodded, listening to the explanation as he watched, his own supplies sitting on a table next to him. "The chakra is no problem... I planned for it. I can convert some of my chakra and give it to her, to keep her alive."

Were Tsunade not concentrating intently, she would've looked sharply at Minato. "You can do that? You really are a sealing genius. To come up with something like this in a week..." Tsunade was amazed, to say it bluntly.

Minato grunted slightly in affirmation. "It's fairly simple... I just needed to figure out how to bind the seal with her chakra coils. Really, it's a variation on the **Hakke no Fuuin Shiki **_(Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)_, redesigned to support natural chakra flow rather than seal external chakra into a body. I'm being optimistic thinking that it will work first try, I might still have to work on it, but this should hold for now. Most of the problems should come with the supplementary features. Originally I planned on making a new seal, but time constraints lead me to settle on a new variant of the **Hakke no Fuuin Shiki **_(Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)_."

By now, the supposed time of the operation was coming to a close. Minato could tell that Kushina was better off; She was breathing easier, for one. Tsunade wiped a hand over her brow as she stepped back. "That's all I can do. Even if I do more, it might just do more harm than good." That was all the conformation Minato needed. He stepped forward, brush in hand. He bared Kushina's stomach, and quickly got to work.

He started by drawing the center, as always a habit of his. The center of this was, like all Uzumaki-based fuuinjutsu, a spiral. Outside of that was the two arc-lines, runic in look. Four lines from each, radiating outwards, but this is where the original similarities end. The four lines on the bottom of the seal now curved, two to the left, two to the right, eventually sweeping back up and around Kushina's sides, ending just before Kushina's form started to curve into her back. The four lines on the top did something similar, curving upwards like horns to end on the sides of her lower ribs. Now, one straight, flowing line directly through the center of the four lines on top, ending at the arc-line. Then, the embellishments inside the two arc-lines, various kanji and symbols for circulation and stabilisation, as well as the conversion seal directly around the spiral, with the very center being the design of the Hiraishin seal. This took maybe a minute to complete, all done with the utmost care and skill, with the practised speed and ease of a true fuuinjutsu master.

Carefully, he placed his palm on the seal, and the ink glowed blue slightly before sinking into Kushina's skin, dissapearing as it went. Then with another soft pulse of his chakra, Minato began to slowly push it in. He frowned as he felt his chakra enter her system. He shouldn't, it should be converted, essentially, into her chakra. Then he slowly felt it filter out, before he pulled it back sharply, pulling it through the seal, before feeling it cut off from his own supply. His brow furrowed. "It reversed... Run a check, please, Tsunade." Minato sounded slightly confused. The seal allowed chakra to flow inwards... and only converted it to Kushina's chakra when it went _outwards?_ It was odd, to say the least.

Tsunade nodded, and raised her once-more glowing hands, holding them a five, or so, centimeters above Kushina's stomach. "Her chakra reserves have... increased? It's still a fraction of what it once was, I would be surprised if she could make more than one Kage Bunshin now without collapsing, but it's definitely recovering."

This statement made Minato whistle, and wince at the same time. He wasn't sure how large her reserves were before, but he was sure the maximum number of Shadow Clones she could've made would have numbered in the hundreds. And now it was down to one? It would take her years to recover... She certainly wouldn't be back in any state to fight properly for a number of years. Not at any decent level, at least.

The slightly glazed look dissapeared from Kushina's eyes as Tsunade cancelled the forced-unconsciousness on her. Closing her eyes gently, Kushina fell into a more natural sleep. Tsunade rubbed her hands together slightly. "Kushina should be fine. She'll barely be able to walk, but that should fade soon after she gets up and about. It will take her about a month to recover, but she needs to take it slow. She is essentially building her body back up, from the foundations. You will, of course, make sure she stays rested?" Tsunade looked pointedly at Minato, as he nodded.

"Yeah, I will. Does she have to stay in the hospital for long?" Minato asked, concerned still, if only slightly now. Tsunade nodded before replying, "Yes. I would say a week." Minato nodded in confirmation. "I should stay, I really should, but I left Naruto with Mikoto, and I really should take care of Naruto by myself." He paused for a moment, before a sheepish grin formed on his face, as he spoke with a matching sheepish tone. "I am a father now, after all!" He laughed as he said that, before he disappeared, the small inrush air signaling that he was there to begin with.

I

_Konoha_

_Roughly 7 Years Later_

I

"Naruto! Finish your breakfast before you leave!" Kushina shouted at her son, who was currently in the middle of climbing out a window.

Minato stifled laughter as he watched his son smuggle himself away from the spatula that his wife was waving about like a weapon.

Naruto looked back with a cheeky grin, the bacon sandwich in his hands (Because honestly, who doesn't like bacon for breakfast?) "I'll eat it on the way! I'll see you when I get home!" With that he leapt out the window, as Kushina threw the spatula after him.

Minato snorted in laughter, quickly pulling up the newspaper he was reading to block his face from the view of his angry wife.

"Do you think this is, like, funny?" Kushina growled at the blonde-haired Hokage.

Minato heard the dangerous tone in her voice as he quickly schooled his features into interest. "Not at all, no, no. I was laughing at this little comic in the newspaper..." With the skill only a Shinobi could manage, he flipped to the comic page discretely, showing his wife.

With a dull look, Kushina sat down and began to eat her own breakfast somewhat dejectedly. "I'm going to have to go out and get that spatula, aren't I?" She asked him, receiving a solemn nod from the Yondaime Hokage.

"Yes, yes you are." He took his mug of tea; It helped steel him for the long day of paperwork ahead. He did it more out of a sense of duty, rather than ignorance of how he could use **Kage Bunshin **_(Shadow Clones)_ to do the work for him. So, he finished his tea and stood up, moving to his room to change into his normal clothing.

Naruto sped along the rooftops, a smile on his face. He had finished his breakfast not too long ago, and was making good time. Towards the Academy? One would think so, but no. He was rushing across the rooftops to a clan compound. The Uchiha Clan compound. Mikoto and Kushina being the close friends that they were, Naruto nearly spent as much time around the Uchiha clan as he did his own family, and he had to say, he liked it. The Uchiha were polite and friendly, respectful to him, yet not deferent like lesser people would be. They didn't care that his father was the Yondaime Hokage. They cared that he was a talented, kind - if a little boisterous - young shinobi. He spent a lot of time hanging around with Sasuke, as they were around the same age and grew up together. They got along well. So, as Naruto had recently joined the Academy, as had Sasuke, he was going to meet up with Sasuke so that they could walk together to school. It wasn't like the Uchiha compound was too far out of the way, and it gave him a little bit of a run to warm up. As he approached, he saw the walls to the compound, and he slowed down, landing with a small puff of dust floating up from where he stopped. The gates, at this time, were wide open, and the compound was bustling with activity. Naruto walked in cheerfully. The Uchiha took no note of him; He'd been coming every day since he joined the Academy, they were used to it by now.

After a minute of walking, he arrived at Sasuke's place of residence. From inside, he heard the voices of Sasuke and his family. Then the door slid open, and Sasuke stepped out, his brother's voice following. "Have fun, otoutou."

With that, they started to walk. "Morning." Sasuke said, as Naruto returned the sentiment.

"I wonder what we'll be doing today..." Naruto sighed slightly as he thought of the oncoming day. It was going to be boring.

Sasuke merely shrugged. "I think Iruka-sensei said something about Leadership and Tactics."

This caused Naruto to throw a side-long glance at his friend. "Really? Something useful, finally... Unlike all of the history we've been learning. Never going to need that..."

They both laughed, before Sasuke defended their classes. "Well, we might... You never know, in this world of deceit and lies. A bit of history and knowledge could always be useful." And so, they talked back and forth, all the way to the Academy. When they arrived, they quickly made their way to their classroom, and sat down, not exactly in the front row, but close to the front. Luckily, they were still young enough that fanclubs hadn't formed... yet. But they both definitely felt the glares on them. They were both regarded as prodigies, and had high expectations heaped on them.

Sasuke Uchiha, the latest genius to come from that clan. Already having mastered a Chunin level technique, **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu **_(Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)_, at the tender age of 7, even his clan had high hopes for his ninjutsu skills, and his taijutsu was easily nearing average genin level already. Then came his seemingly best friend, Naruto Uzumaki. Named after his mother rather than his father, yet tended to take after both. Always, expectations have been high about him. His father being possibly the best Shinobi ever produced by Konoha, the Yondaime Hokage, he was already expected to live up to that legacy. Then there was the expectations of him being able to utilise the Kyuubi to fight for, and protect, Konoha. With tuition from his mother, he had learned to utilise his naturally large chakra reserves, and learnt the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **_(Shadow Clone Technique)_, and used it to it's maximum effect in learning. He was proficient in ninjutsu, and his chakra control was, while not perfect, above average, and rising, in preparation for his father to teach him some higher-level jutsu. But most outstanding, was his talents in the fields of fuuinjutsu and taijutsu. He was fast and strong, and his stamina was godlike. This was where most of his current training was going; He was learning how to properly utilise his own body. His skill in wielding a kunai in close-up combat was high, and he was learning a hand-to-hand style that was really an amalgamation of experience and basic taijutsu styles, evolved to focus on speed, created by the Yondaime Hokage himself. His fuuinjutsu intuition was... understandably high. Having both a mother and a father who were considered fuuinjutsu masters, and having a long line of known fuuinjutsu users, was a very good precedent for fuuinjutsu. He studied diligantly, creating various seal ideas as part of his skill development. No one was really sure what he knew, seeing as how sealing was a very hard art to learn, but he was proficient in the basics, and obviously well into advanced theory.

Iruka, the Chunin who was their sensei and would be for the next five years, palmed his face. He was standing up front of the class, and had been for five minutes, and they continued to talk.

"Quiet, please!" He called out, and finally, the noise started to die down. "Okay. Today we will be learning about Leadership and Combat Tactics..."

Sasuke and Naruto traded glances, before resigning themselves to the lesson.

Iruka went on to explain about how Ninja were required to be able to lead, and to lead any Shinobi force, at least a passing understanding of tactics was required. He went though some basic tactics in how to conduct yourself strategically while keeping losses to a minimum, and explained some theories about how people react to social interaction, and how this can make the difference between a mission gone right, and a mission gone wrong. Then they were required to work through a tactical problem. It was easy, detailing how a mission had gone wrong and now the enemy had a squad surrounded, the goal being to escape with minimal losses. As class ended, both Sasuke and Naruto quickly got up and left. Upon leaving the doors of the Academy, they were greeted by Kushina.

"Hello, Naruto, Sasuke-kun. How was school?" They both replied with a shrug. Kushina smiled. "That's good. Sasuke-kun, you can go home on your own, yes? Minato wants to see Naruto about something, so he can't hang around your clan's compound today."

Sasuke nodded. "Yes. Seeya later, Naruto!" With that, he started walking off after giving a partial wave cheerfully.

Naruto looked at his mother with a slight visage of confusion passing over his face. "Why does tou-san need to see me?" He asked, following his mother as Kushina started to walk off.

"Because we're stepping up your training." As they got out of sight of the Academy, Kushina sent a signal to Minato, by way of a communication seal on her shoulder, linking her to Minato.

Minato suddenly appeared in front of the two. "Okay... Hold on to me," He said as his hands fell into the single handseal he needed, before the scenery shifted to that of a forest for all three of them.

To be specific, a clearing in a forest. Around the edge was complex-looking marking engraved into the ground, and snaking inwards, before coalescing around a spiral symbol.

"Sit down in the middle, Naruto." At the serious tone of voice, Naruto looked sharply at his father.

"Wasn't I supposed to do this training when I became a genin?" He was, of course, referring to the training meant to grant him at least partial control over the Kyuubi's chakra.

Indeed, when he was younger, Minato had told him that it would come when he was a genin, but lately Minato had been feeling more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra leaking throughout Naruto's system, and that worried him. There was too much of it, and that meant only one thing. Sarutobi had sealed too much of the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto. Maybe he slipped in his old age, in a moment of weakness, or maybe he just didn't hold the mastery over it that Minato did, but the **Shiki Fuujin **_(Dead Demon Consuming Seal)_ sealed too much into him. At least three quarters of the Kyuubi's chakra was inside of Naruto's system, where only a half should have resided.

So, Minato merely looked at him as they both stepped into the circle. "You were meant to, but certain events have forced me to do this now. Kushina, if you would... I'll suppress it untill he can get a hold of it, then I'll let you take it from there. There's a barrier around the clearing, so go wild."

Kushina nodded, and sat down in front of Naruto, her legs crossed, eyes closed, much like him. It reminded her of her own training. "Okay... Loosening the seal in three, two, one..." And with that, Naruto felt the omnipresent Demonic Chakra begin to flood into his system, as if straining past a dam, ready to collapse and crush him underneath it.

I

_Naruto's Mindscape_

I

**"Why Hello there... Uzumaki Naruto. You know, I've always wondered why your father chose to call you that... You'd think he'd call you 'Naruto Namikaze', but apparently not. Maybe it was in an effort to honor your mother's fallen clan? Kami knows everything else he does works towards that effect." **The disembodied voice boomed out, as Naruto stared with hard eyes at the bars in front of him.

He was standing in a sewer. At least, it looked like a sewer. He was just grateful that only his pants were in the water. He didn't know what he'd do if his favourite orange t-shirt got soiled by sewer water. "Let me take a guess... The Kyuubi no Yoko?" He said, casting his voice forward, hearing it reverberate around the sewers.

An amused rumble replied to him. **"Yes, you're quite right... And I have to say, I'm impressed with you. Let's make a deal. I'll show you my true form, so we can have... civil.. conversation. Come closer." **

There was tones of... regret? In the great Kyuubi's voice. It compelled Naruto to trust it, so he stepped forward, as the darkness of the prison receeded, showing a beautiful woman with long, red hair, and evil-looking slitted red eyes. Wearing a crimson kimono, the woman walked forward. **"Now then, about that deal..." **

Naruto cautiously viewed this woman, before his instincts screamed for him to move. He jumped back, as a massive red claw rocketed through the bars, barely stopping before his head, chains suddenly restraining it, as the seal on the bars glowed, causing the Kyuubi to howl, an inhuman sound of pain.

The vision of the woman dissapeared, as Kushina entered Naruto's mindscape. "Naruto, don't listen to it. It tried something like this to me, and I had to be held down for hours while it rampaged in my body." She nearly murmured as she said the last part, hard eyes cast on the bars. The Kyuubi's claw receeded into the cage, showing the Kyuubi for what it was.

**"You're lucky, Uzumaki Naruto. Lucky... Yet stupid. As if you would believe that I was a nubile woman, really."** It roared with laughter, the pain obviously gone now.

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly at the massive face of the Kyuubi. "What do I do now, kaa-san?" He asked Kushina, who responded in kind.

"Go up to the seal. You're alert now, so it can't harm you." Naruto nodded, slowly walking through the water, which raised up as he reached the bars. Floating in front of the seal, he looked over his shoulder at the image of his mother.

"Alright, now, place your hand on it, and will the Kyuubi's chakra into your hand."

Naruto did as told, placing his hand on the seal. **"As if I'll let you use my chakra just like that... Kushina, you really think this kid can do tha-" **The Kyuubi cut out mid-sentence, with a choking sound, as the red chakra began flowing towards the bars.

It continued to make choking noises, as the chakra started to surround Naruto, who had his eyes scrunched close. His determination and willpower was truly something fearsome, one of the few things that ensured he would be a great shinobi later in life. Just like his father, his will was made of something impossibly hard.

Kushina smiled as she saw her son draw on the power of the Kyuubi so easily. Then something struck her. The Kyuubi wasn't resisting any more. It's chakra was flowing easily. Too easily. She swore mentally as she yelled out "Naruto, stop drawing on it's chakra! It's possessing you!" But it was too late. His eyes were now red and slitted, as the chakra shroud formed around him. Suddenly, the red chakra surged, ejecting Kushina forcibly.

I

_Konoha Forest Clearing_

I

Minato watched as the chakra shroud formed, and he immediately jumped up, but Kushina stood up from her kneeling position. "Wait!" Her voice was full of urgency, as she looked over her shoulder.

Minato stood, his hand outstretched, ready to close up the seal. "But, I can stop it...!"

But Kushina shook her head. "He needs to learn. I learned this way, and it's the only way he'll ever gain dominance over it. Let me fight him."

Minato was obviously torn up about the decision, but he stood back nonetheless. "Okay... Don't get hurt."

Kushina smiled at him, before she turned around. The Naruto in front of her was now standing, a small growl coming from it's mouth. It's head was cocked, as if it was waiting to be forced back. The chakra shroud billowed around him, his features demonic.

Kushina grimaced as she settled herself into a taijutsu stance, before kicking off. She wasn't back at her former level yet, but she was getting close. Extended periods of training or fighting left her exhausted, even more so than normal, and left her inactive for a day or two afterwards. So she had eased her way back up to Jounin level.

As she neared her possessed son, she threw out her fist, which was evaded. But she contorted her body forward, so she landed on her hands, and lashed out with a kick. This connected the surprised Naruto, who was sent into the barrier, before being thrown back into a fist. The force nearly flipped Kushina who winced at the burns now on her knuckles and leg. She let Naruto recover, as it gave her time as well.

"Naruto, you have to fight it. Gain control." She whispered, yet she was sure that he heard her. In response, 'Naruto' roared, sending a wave of demonically enhanced sound in a wave at her. She rolled out of the way, again using her hands to maneuver herself closer to Naruto, kicking him. Naruto blocked by crossing his arms, as Kushina started up a barrage of kicks, relentlessly kicking the demonically enhanced boy. Each kick slowly inched the demonic Naruto back, before finally, she took a solid stance, firmly grounded. She was breathing hard, which concerned her. She could feel a tingle around her stomach. Was her seal failing? Because her body sure was. There was no way she should be this tired already. Not after all she worked for.

"I'm going to put you down with this punch. At least for a minute." She breathed in deeply, drawing her fist back. And then she called out a formless shout of exertion, as she thrusted her fist forward, sending it rocketing into 'Naruto's' stomach. His defense wasn't fast enough, and the pain showed on his face. It caused her to wince, but she knew it wasn't him. She drew her fist back, and the shroud followed with it, as 'Naruto' keeled over, holding his stomach as it regenerated. "Minato... something's happening." Kushina knelt down, exhausted, as Minato rushed over.

The shroud around her fist dissipated... but she felt odd, and Minato gasped slightly as she turned to him. "I can feel it, Minato... It's invading my system." She said in a mortified tone. Her eyes were slitted and crimson red. Minato quickly caught her as she faded into unconsciousness, and pulled open the buttons on her dress.

The seal on her stomach was showing. Not the seal he put on her to save her life, no, but the seal that was there for most of her life, the seal in which the Kyuubi was previously held. Some link had been formed, and the excess chakra that Naruto wasn't supposed to have was siphoning off to Kushina.

"What... is that even possible? I know sealing is, for the most part, an unknown to Shinobi, and the Bijuu are an even bigger enigma, but a link between two Jinchuuriki who held the same Bijuu... Kushina's body is trying to cope with her injuries, even after all this time, by absorbing the Kyuubi's chakra flowing off of Naruto?" He said, surprised, as the chakra levels between the two began to equalise.

He swore as he heard an animalistic growl. Kushina was out cold, so that meant... Naruto. Minato stood up, his hand stretched out to his son. "Kushina must've knew this would happen. Or theorised, or something." He said, as he prepared to reseal the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto. But as the Kyuubi Naruto started to launch another chakra-enhanced roar at Minato and Kushina, the shroud began to flicker.

A growl ripped itself out of Naruto's throat, as it turned from animalistic roar, to a roar of defiance. The shroud flared back to full power, as the animalistic stance that was held by the possessed Naruto slowly shifted to a more human one. Then, the chakra began to receed. A moment later, left standing in the middle of the sealing array, was a heavily breathing, tired looking Naruto Uzumaki.

"Did I do good... tou-san?" A tired smile formed on his face, as his eyes fluttered closed, and he fell. Kushina's seal was gone now, showing her bare stomach.

Minato sighed, before buttoning her dress back up and dropping the barrier around them. He returned home, with his family, via **Hiraishin **_(Flying Thunder God)_, and left them in their respective beds, before collapsing into a chair. "Thank kami for **Kage Bunshin **_(Shadow Clones)_, or else I'd be sitting in my office doing paperwork. Thank kami..."

I

_Konoha Forest Clearing_

_Three Weeks Later_

I

For the past three weeks, Naruto had been going to school, 'learning', and then coming to this clearing to learn how to use the chakra of his tenant. The first two weeks were all about control - how to use the chakra without letting the Kyuubi possess him and go on a rampage - and the third week was about familiarisation. He had been sparring with his mother to get used to using the chakra. He was totally unaware that Kushina had, essentially, stolen some of the chakra of the Kyuubi, and both his parents intended to keep it that way.

"Okay, Naruto, what have you got for us today? You said you had an idea on how to use it... go ahead." Minato said, looking curious as to what his son would do.

"Well, I had an idea... that if I could make a seal to stabilise the Kyuubi's chakra in my hand, then I could use it to form chakra attacks like it used when it attacked Konoha." Naruto had a frown on his face as he explained this. "Like, a chakra projectile. Using the corrosive properties of it's chakra to fire off a destructive blast. Is it possible?" He looked up at his parents as he finished, and they both shook their heads.

"Not without a full transformation, and you are nowhere near ready for that. You can barely control a partial transformation, not even one tail. Don't get too ambitious, Naruto." Kushina said with a smile. "But with your level of control, I think you can handle the first level... I call it **Makyo **_(Demonic Cry)_. It uses sound as a medium for the Kyuubi's chakra, and turns a roar into a powerful shockwave. It can burn the enemy as well as give them blunt trauma injuries from the sheer impact of the technique. It will be good for your control over the Kyuubi if you can pull it off. What you have to do is call on the Kyuubi's chakra and like, push it out when you roar. If you do it right, it's a powerful attack... But it will probably hurt your throat." She finished speaking with a 'It's okay, just do it' smile that made both Naruto and Minato palm their faces.

"Okay kaa-san, I'll try it." Naruto said, a look of concentration passing over his face.

His eyes flickered, before turning red in colour and slitted. Then the shroud started to flicker around him, jagged like fire. He turned away, to the edge of the clearing, and took a few deep breathes, before roaring with all he could, before he had to stop and cough. "That hurt." His voice was hoarse, and he looked at the tree he was aiming at in disappointment.

He sighed, and started breathing deep again, before roaring again, pushing out more chakra. It didn't work, yet again, but this time a wisp of smoke was ejected from his mouth, showing how the chakra was damaging his throat, before healing it up. Again and again, he tried. But at the end of the day, as the sun was getting low, he couldn't do it.

"It's okay, Naruto. You'll get it eventually." Minato said supportively as he walked towards the forest. "Hey, come with me. I have something to show you."

Kushina followed, curious, and slightly suspicious, about what Minato wanted to show him. They walked through the forest, towards the sun, until eventually, they reached the top of the Hokage Monument. Just as the sun was dropping behind the horizon, illuminating the village in an orange glow.

"The fire's shadow illuminates the village." He said reverently as he watched the sun drop, a small, serene smile on his face.

Naruto himself was awed at the wonderful sight, of the village at dusk.

Kushina was lost in memories as she remembered that one time when they observed this view after... _spending the day_... on top of the Hokage Monument. She smiled slightly at the good memories.

"Let's go home." Minato turned around as he said that, taking Kushina's hand, before Naruto stepped away.

"I'll walk. I know the way." Naruto watched as Minato nodded in an 'okay' gesture, before dissapearing with Kushina. With one last glance at the beautiful view, Naruto started to walk. The found the path up there, and began to walk down. It took him the good part of fifteen minutes to make his way to the bottom, where he ended up near the Academy, and subsequently, the administrative section of the Academy where the Hokage's office was. Colloquially known as the Hokage Tower because of the fact, too. He continued walking, past the Academy, to the residential area of Konoha. This was the Shinobi area, where a lot of clans had their compounds. He had to pass the Hyuuga compound and the Inuzuka compound (or rather, the path to it) before he reached home.

It was dark, now, as he walked in silence, contemplating on his life. He looked around, a sigh on his lips. He was nearly home. He was on edge, like someone was watching him. He looked around, suspiciously... and he heard a muffled curse. Curious, he moved to where he heard it from. It was the back of the Hyuuga compound. Leaning against a wall, with a bloody kunai and the body of a Hyuuga on the ground, was a man dressed all in black, carrying a dark bundle of cloth. As he watched, the bundle of cloth was moving, a muffled sobbing sound coming from it. It was a child! He had been angry, seeing a dead Konoha shinobi on the ground, but now he was furious.

With a roar, he drew on the Kyuubi's chakra, becoming a speeding bullet. The already exhausted and distracted man in black wasn't even expecting another attack. The punch connected with the man's chest, sending him flying, and causing him to drop the bundle. Quickly, Naruto moved, placing himself between the man and the person he dropped.

"You bastard!" Naruto was struggling to stay calm at the moment. The man in black swore, standing up, before making handseals at a near-blinding pace. Naruto quickly picked up the person, and ran. "**Raiton: Raiyari no Jutsu! **_(Lightning Release: Lightning Spear Technique!)_" was all he heard as a flash of light illuminated his vision. Blinding pain in his arm, as he was forced to kneel, so that the person in his arms wasn't hurt. He quickly placed it down, before launching himself at the enemy, the shroud fully manifesting itself.

Taken aback by this further power, the enemy nin tried to get to the bundle, but he couldn't do it, as he found Naruto in his face, matching him in taijutsu. _'Damn, this kid is good! He's easily chunin level... He's lucky the others are distracting the Hyuuga otherwise I wouldn't be the only one.' _Quickly, he found a hole in Naruto's defense and kicked him away.

"You're through!" He flashed through another set of handseals, before stopping on the snake seal. "**Raiton: Joukyouran Denarashi! **_(Lightning Release: Imperial Fury Lightning Storm!)_" Around him, lightning began to crackle, orbs forming around his head, before lightning arced everywhere. Naruto knew he was screwed as soon as he saw the lightning, but he was more worried about the person he was protecting. He threw his arms wide, and all of the lightning homed in on him.

Easily hundreds of lightning bolts flew from the enemy ninja, all of them striking at Naruto, trying to blast him away. His entire body convulsed as he cried out in pain, before he fell to his knees, the chakra shroud fading. He was barely conscious, as lightning arced around him. He was smoking, his skin charred, his clothes destroyed. But he was alive, and the Kyuubi's chakra was working double time to keep him alive and repair his body.

The shinobi walked over to him, sighing. "Such a waste of Konoha's talent. Why do you all keep trying to stop us from attaining your Byakugan? If you would just give up, then we could all get over it."

Naruto's arm twitched, as he slowly raised it up, his eyes opening, to show his crystal-clear blue eyes staring vengeance at the enemy nin. He closed his hand into a half tiger seal, in a final act of defiance. His voice failed him, and every single centimeter he moved his arm sent searing pain lancing through his body.

The ninja sighed, walking past the near-death boy, picking up the whimpering Hyuuga child. "Such a waste." He shook his head, before he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, really?" He shivered as he heard that voice.

That voice was the voice that promised pain. It seared his soul, to hear that voice. It made him fearful, it made him _scared _to listen to that voice. Slowly, the man's head turned, beholding the furious gaze of Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage.

"That boy you nearly killed... Is my son." The only reason this man wasn't dead right now was because of the fact that Minato was too shocked to actually do anything yet.

The enemy nin took in the information for a moment, before he soiled himself. He screamed in pain as Minato let out his fury, lightning fast punches and kicks crunching the man's skeletal system, pulverising his body into nothing more than a paste of pain. A minute later, when Minato was done, he threw the man into a wall, causing it to crater.

Then he checked the child - It was Hinata Hyuuga, the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. "You... my son nearly got killed for you. He really does take after me." The fury behind his voice was apparent, as he retrieved the nin who was in the act of kidnapping her. He was still alive, though he probably wished he wasn't.

Then the med-nin's arrived, called by Kushina when Minato had mentioned that Naruto had sent a signal through his seal that he was in trouble. Immediately, they began to work on Naruto, picking him up and placing him on a stretcher to transport him to the hospital. The Anbu also arrived, taking the enemy nin off of Minato, leaving him to take Hinata back, before heading to the hospital.

I

_Konoha Hospital_

_Two Days after_

_the attempted kidnapping_

_of Hinata Hyuuga_

I

Minato and Kushina were both sitting next to Naruto's bed, as they had for the past couple of days. He had yet to wake up, althought he was looking considerably better. He actually looked normal, although his skin looked new.

A doctor walked in, and cleared his throat to get their attention. "Well, Naruto-kun... should be fine. But only because of his tenant. It protected his vitals from the original attack, and kept him alive while we worked to stabilise him. He wouldn't have much left to regenerate without the Kyuubi inside of him. He should wake up any time now."

Minato nodded, as Kushina slumped in relief, leaning back in her chair. Both of their faces were taut in worry, with Kushina's eyes holding evidence of heavy crying.

"Rest assured that he will recover." The doctor bowed, before leaving them alone.

Minato sighed. "Kushina, I'm going to call the council now. Last night, the Torture and Interrogation Force got info out of the Shinobi we captured. They're Kumo nin, sent to aquire the Byakugan." Kushina nodded, before Minato walked out, to go to the council chambers, a room designed and intended for council meetings.

I

_Konoha Council Chambers_

_Later that day_

I

Slowly, both the Shinobi council and the Civillian council filed in, each sitting on opposite sides of the long table. The Shinobi Council held 7 people, while the Civillian Council only held 3. For the Shinobi Council, they were; Hiashi Hyuuga, Fugaku Uchiha, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akamichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, Shibi Aburame and Tsume Inuzuka, the Clan Heads of the most well-known Konoha clans. The Civillian Council was filled by; Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane and Danzo Shimura.

"Okay, I assume you have all heard of the recent issue, the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuuga heiress, Hyuuga Hinata." After some murmuring, along with Hiashi's eyes promising bloody murder on the perpetrator's, Minato held up his hands for silence. "I have information. This was a move by Kumogakure to gain the Byakugan and use the Hyuuga heiress for... such means." He grimaced, as he didn't want to explain what. Everyone in the room knew what he meant: He meant useage of the young girl as a baby-making machine, to be raped, conceive children, give birth, and then be raped again. Immediately, calls of 'This is an act of war!' filled the room.

Again, Minato raised his hands for silence. It came slowly this time. "It is an act of war, yes... But we can't openly engage Kumogakure. Because they showed no alleigance to Kumogakure, they can claim it was a group of nukenin acting on their lonesome." Shouts of outrage threw themselves at him, as he closed his eyes and slowly breathed out, before raising his hands yet again.

"I have numerous plans, all of them dangerous. My first plan is to send in teams of ANBU, disguised as bandits, to raid Kumo's supply caravan. My second plan is to send diplomats to garner some sort of... compensation... from Kumo. Whether it be a certain amount of all mission profits being sent to us from Kumo, or something else. I highly suggest the second to be put forward for consideration. It would be legally valid and benefit us, while harming Kumo. All raise their hands for the first suggestion to be implemented." Minato said, as numerous hands shot up.

Hiashi's, of course, was first to go up. Second was, surprisingly enough, Fugaku.

While the Uchiha and Hyuuga did not see eye-to-eye much, Fugaku could understand the need for revenge. Third to rise was Tsume, and Fourth to rise was Danzo.

Minato nodded, "All raise their hands for the second suggestion to be implemented." The remaining six raised their hands. As much as they wanted to support the first, the second suggestion was more logically sound, and much safer.

Hiashi was furious, his eyes boring coldly into all of those who supported the second suggestion.

"It is decided, then. Dismissed." He gestured to the door, before pressing his fingertips together, waiting for them to file out. Hiashi was the last out, his eyes hard in cold fury.

As he left, Minato relaxed. After a few moments of sitting there to ensure noone was remaining, he called out softly. "ANBU, report."

An ANBU appeared in a swirl of air, with an avian mask on, spiky black hair pulled into a short pony-tail. "Hai, Hokage-sama." His voice was soft and smooth, with an undertone of calmness and an edge of steel.

"Karasu, how go your investigations?" Minato's voice was tight, as this was a topic that had long caused him stress.

"Not good, Hokage-sama. The Uchiha Clan seem to be plotting a coup d'etat against Konoha. They seem set on it. Total elimination is reccomended." Karasu's voice tightened slightly as he said that.

But Minato shook his head. "Not an option. Even if you could pull it off, there goes one of our greatest assets." He said, standing up. "Karasu, you forget who I am. I am the Yondaime Hokage. If the Uchiha decide to rebel... I can put them down, and then negotiate terms for their release. Konoha needs the Uchiha. Even your famous eyes can't track my movements when I use Hiraishin."

Karasu nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama. Should I continue observation?"

Minato nodded at the ANBU operative, allowing the ANBU to dissapear again, as Minato walked out. The only thoughts he had in his head as he left were, _'How would you deal with this... Hiruzen-sama?'_

I

_Konoha Hospital_

_Roughly the same time_

I

Kushina sighed as she looked out the window, waiting for Naruto to wake up. It was surreal, that Naruto had actually fought off a jounin-level shinobi. Sure, he was using the Kyuubi, but it was still amazing. Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door of the ward. Kushina got up, and opened to see... a 7 year-old Hyuuga? And two older members. "Hyuuga Hinata?" The Hyuuga flanking the young girl stepped back, to watch the door.

Said young girl was looking at the floor, poking her fingertips together in a cute way. "A-ano... C-could I p-possibly know i-if Naruto-s-san is a-alright?"

Kushina smiled slightly and crouched down, to get to eye level with the girl. "The doctors say he'll be up any time now. Do you want to see him?"

The Hyuuga heiress nodded slightly, and Kushina stood up, an odd smile on her face as she stepped aside, allowing the Hyuuga to walk in, and sit on a chair next to Naruto.

She was surprised; She remembered Naruto taking a blast of lightning that no-one should've survived, and yet he looked fine. "Ano.. c-could you tell Naruto-s-san when he w-wakes up that I s-said... th-thank you?" She cautiously peeked up at Kushina, who nodded, still smiling slightly.

"Sure." Kushina said, which caused the shy girl to get up and bow to her.

"Th-thank you, Kushina-san!" Before she all but ran out the door. Kushina giggled slightly. _'I'll have to keep tabs on her.'_ She thought, as the door closed. After a few more moments of silence, Naruto opened his mouth.

"Kaa-san, did I do good?" This surprised Kushina, as she thought Naruto was still unconscious.

She nodded at him, as his eyes flicked open. "Yeah, you did good. I'm proud of you, Naruto." She said as he smiled up at her. "Don't worry, Kaa-san... Soon I'll be protecting the whole village. I'm not gonna die until I become Hokage. Believe it!"

I

_Son of a Legend_

_Chapter One_

_Complete_

I

**And that's it, folks! First Chapter, done. Now, to stop any complaining already... Naruto has been trained. Yeah, he's good, but he isn't godly. He's only Chunin level, at most, and for the most part, this won't change much. Until he reaches Genin, he won't train to improve, because he thinks he doesn't need to. At least in Taijutsu. Mostly, he'll be focused on Chakra Control (Because we all know how horrible his control is) and Fuuinjutsu. You'll note that in his little fight to save Hinata, he matched a Jounin in Taijutsu, then got fried by a Ninjutsu. That Jounin was a Ninjutsu specialist, his Taijutsu was severely lacking. This isn't a super-strong Naruto fic. This is the level I believe Naruto would be at, being trained by his father. Oh, yeah. At the end of each chapter, I may or may not have a question to ask anyone who actually reads this. These questions will be based around upcoming events or characters. And the first question is this:**

**Should Minato Namikaze know Sage Mode?**

**This might seem to be a slightly stupid question to ask, but it's been mentioned that he has large chakra reserves (Don't quote me on it, but that's what I remember) and Jiraiya though he was the one prophesized about by the old Toad. I've been toying with the idea that he should, but I can't decide one way or the other. So, help me out here guys. It probably won't affect the story much either which way, but I'm asking it now so I can plan ahead.**

**So, until next chapter... Talarion out.**

**Seeya's.**


	2. The Start of a Career

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, in any way shape or form. Did I not tell you all last chapter? Because I'm sure I did.**

**A/N: Howdy there, I'm Talarion, and I'm back. Many apologies for the long period of non-updating. I realise, only having one (now two) chapters, I shouldn't have done it, but I got really busy with school and forgot about it. Well, now, I've remembered and decided to pick this back up. Hope you guys will forgive me and still read it. Anyways, here it is! The (probably not much) awaited chapter two... Enjoy.**

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

**"Demonic Speech"**

_**'Demonic Thoughts'**_

**Jutsu Name: Japanese**_(Jutsu Name: English)_

* * *

><p>I<br>_Son of a Legend_  
><em>Chapter Two<em>  
><em>The Start of a Career<em>  
>I<p>

Naruto sighed as he stretched. He had only been released from the Hospital the day before. Currently, he was sitting at home. In his hands, a bowl of home-made ramen! Sasuke and Mikoto came over earlier, so Naruto got a nice bragging session over Sasuke's head. Yeah, he'd fought a Jounin! And lost, but still. Sasuke had never done that, had he? Naruto yawned; He was still feeling tired, if that was even possible. It was late afternoon, so it wasn't really understandable. He heard knocking on the door, and tiredly got up, placing his bowl on a side-table. He slouched his way to the door - both his parents were currently out. Kushina was doing.. something. He didn't know what, while Minato was attending to Hokage duties. He grabbed the handle and pulled, causing the door to swing open. "Hokage residence how may I help?" The well rehearsed line slipped between his lips, before he rubbed his eyes to check what he was seeing. Hyuuga Hiashi was standing in front of the door.

"Uzumaki Naruto? I would like to thank you for saving my daughter. Officially, on behalf of the Hyuuga clan... and personally, on behalf of myself. Thank you." He bowed, nearly a bit too deeply for any Hyuuga pride to stand. Naruto rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to react. "Ahh, all I did was help someone being kidnapped." He said as Hiashi slowly exited his bow. "I have a request that I would like to put forward to you. I have already asked your father, so I'm here to ask you: Would you be willing to tutor my daughter in how to be a shinobi? She has talent, but lacks the confidence to use it. Exposure to you may bolster her confidence, her willingness to learn, seeing as you saved her life. What do you say?"

Hiashi's look was schooled into that face of perfect neutrality often held by those of the Hyuuga clan. Naruto slowly nodded. "I don't see anything wrong with that. Sure, I'll do it."

A small, barely perceptible smile passed over Hiashi's lips as he fully came out of the bow. "Very well then. You may start tomorrow, if you so wish." With that, Hiashi left, leaving a slightly confused blonde kid standing in the doorway to his home. After a moment of silent contemplation, Naruto shrugged before heading back inside. His ramen would get cold otherwise.

He fell back onto the couch he was originally sitting on, picked up his bowl, and resumed eating. Thoughts raced through his head as he mulled over what he had just agreed to. _'So, Hyuuga Hiashi wants me to... teach his daughter, the Hyuuga Heiress, how to be a shinobi... don't they have actual teacher's for this? I'm not exactly the best person to choose to teach someone to be confident. Maybe he's hoping my confidence will rub off on her... or maybe that she'll develop some sort of worship or bond with me, using my saving of her to fuel her motivation... Maybe...' _He thought as he placed the now empty bowl on the side table. He'd clean up later. Next to it rested a book, a book apparently written by an Uzushiogakure Shinobi, 'Suijiten Kyuuya', on sealing. It was part of his mother's personal collection, a gathering of literature on the shinobi arts of Uzushio, not only limited to sealing, covering jutsu unique to Uzushio, fighting styles, tactics and tools used solely by that village. It was quite extensive, and gave Naruto a link to his mother's clan. This book in particular was a mix of jutsu and chakra techniques which had been suggested to him to aid in his chakra control. The page he was at was describing a **Suiton **_(Water Release)_ Jutsu, **Suiton: Taifuudan no Jutsu **_(Water Release: Typhoon Bullet Technique)_. It was a C-rank jutsu, creating a spiralling ball of watery destruction. Of course, unless you were a master of Suiton, it required water to perform, as most water jutsu did. After a solid half-hour of reading, he heard his mother returning.

"I'm home!" Kushina said as she opened the door, slipping through before closing after her. Naruto responded with, "Welcome back, kaa-san.." somewhat distracted by his book. Kushina walked in, wearing a short black battle yukata - tied around the waist with a deep purple obi - with black stockings, black shinobi sandals, and a flak jacket. She walked over, tilting Naruto's book up so she could read the title. "_Uzushio Chakra Control and Jutsu, _huh? Good choice. I remember reading that when I was younger; It helped a lot with my chakra control." She nodded in appreciation of her son's choice, before taking off her flak jacket and moving off towards her room. Naruto glanced after her, his mind wandering from his book for a moment, before slipping back to it like elastic. Soon after, Kushina reappeared in her normal attire, in the other room making preparations for dinner. "Kaa-san, were you on a mission?" Naruto called out, the questions he was thinking when she walked in rising back to his mind. Kushina paused what she was doing, before continuing. "Sort of. I was, like, meeting my new genin team." She said with a hint of a smile. This caused Naruto to slowly crane his neck away from his book to stare at his mother. "You have a genin team now?" He asked incredulously, "Who are they? Are they any good? Can they - " He quickly stemmed the tide of questions, waiting for his mother to answer his first three questions before moving on.

"Yes, I have a genin team now. I've deemed myself fit enough to work as an active Jounin now, if only as a Jounin-sensei at the moment. My three genin are Inuzuka Hana, Kazuya Tenrou and Uchiha Kotaro. They are, like, as good as any other genin team could be. Are there any more questions?" She said as a slightly wry smile crept over her face. Naruto placed a finger on his chin, holding his elbow with his other hand, the thinker pose. "Ah, yes, just one: When am I going to learn how to control a full tail of the Kyuubi's chakra?" He said pensively, letting a pause drift between them in a conversation. Before Kushina laughed, and ruffled his hair. "Oh, Naruto. You'll learn when I think you're ready. Go back to reading." Naruto grinned at that, before turning back to his book to do just that - continue reading.

I  
><em>Konoha Merchant District<em>  
><em>Later that day<em>  
>I<p>

Naruto sighed as he wandered through the large crowds of happy shoppers. He had gotten bored of reading his book and headed out for a walk, and it brought him here. Now, he had absolutely no idea what to do but keep walking. He threw his hands into the air in exasperation, as he turned around abruptly and started walking back in the direction which he came from. Every now and then he would catch a glance from the crowd, no doubt recognising that he was the son of the Yondaime. He mentally sighed, spacing out as he walked. He was actually using the time to think of new seal designs that he could ask his father about. As he was wandering, zoned out, he felt a hand catch his arm, and jerk him away. His eyes snapped back into focus, immediately homing in to the hand on his arm, tracing it up to the face. Jet black hair and eyes, a slight sneer on his features, and the red and white fan on his clothing. Definitely an Uchiha.

"Who are you?" He said clearly to the boy dragging him - he looked to be around twelve or thirteen, so he was probably a Genin, though Naruto couldn't see his forehead protector on him. By now, they were in a back alley, where the unknown Uchiha dropped his arm. "Uzumaki Naruto, yes?" Said the Uchiha, to him. Naruto nodded warily, realising he was cornered. "That's me. What do you want?" He replied, taking a step away from the Uchiha, who only took a step forward. "I am Uchiha Kotaro, and I want to see just how good Sensei's son is. It might help me gauge Sensei herself." said Kotaro, as it clicked in Naruto's mind. This was one of his mother's students. Still, Naruto stayed on his guard. "Why not just ask?" His tone was suspicious, as he saw the sneer intensify slightly. "An Uchiha need not ask. Now, show me your strength!" He shouted, as his eyes swirled into the tell-tale red of Sharingan. His fist pulled back, before launching itself forward. Naruto quickly swung his body to the side, redirecting the fist away from him, blocking a kick that came flying at him with his shin, before pushing forward, his own fist flying out. The punch was caught, but Naruto twisted his body in, smashing his elbow into Kotaro's ribs, catching a fist to the gut for the trouble, however. Both boys stumbled away from the other, to catch their breath. "How dare you touch an Uchiha like that...!" Kotaro said, seemingly outraged... before a quiet snort of laughter was heard. A tic mark of anger appeared on the Uchiha's forehead. "You dare laugh at me?" He shouted to the sky... his voice sounding mocking now, causing more giggles of laughter from the alleyway. Naruto tilted his head slightly, confused. The sneer had dropped off the Uchiha's face now.

"That's enough, Kotaro." From the rooftops, which were hidden from view, two people dropped down. One was obviously an Inuzuka girl, (good looking too, if Naruto were any judge), while the other was an inconspicuous looking boy. The Uchiha was smiling now too. "Is this a joke?" Naruto asked incredulously. All three of them nodded in unison. "Sensei spoke highly of you, Naruto-kun. We all wanted to know if it were true. Kotaro-kun just has a weird sense of humour. He wanted to see if you'd fall for the 'I'm an Uchiha snob' act. Which you did, surprisingly enough." It was the boy who said it. "Oh... I just realised, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Tenrou Kazuya... This is Uchiha Kotaro and Inuzuka Hana. We're Kushina-sensei's students," He raised his hand to his brow in a mock salute, a cheerful grin dancing across his face. "Nice to meet you." Meanwhile, Kotaro clapped a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You're okay, yeah? You surprised me so much that I didn't hold back on that punch..." Naruto nodded, still slightly annoyed that he hadn't been able to tell it was a trick. "I mean, really, who knew that a seven year old could hit as hard as Hana? Man, is that surprisi-" Kotaro said, but he didn't get to finish as said Hana smacked him into a wall, with a pseudo-cheerful look on her face. "I'm sorry, what was that?" She said in a cheerful tone to match her expression. Kotaro mumbled something out, but it wasn't understandable. "That's what I thought..." She said with a slightly vindictive tone in her voice. Naruto stared slightly. _'Are all Genin like this?' _He thought as he shrugged, gesturing slightly to the mouth of the alleyway. "As fun as this has been... May I go? I was planning on heading home. Really, I was only out here because I was bored." He said, slightly apprehensive, but the Genin all looked at eachother and nodded slightly. "Yeah, sure. You should come train with us some time, though, it would help you for when you become a Genin and, well, why not? You seem good enough to help us too." It was Kazuya who spoke, a small smile playing on his face. Naruto nodded, "Okay, I will. See you around..." With that, he went to walk past them, as they started talking among themselves, and headed in the direction of home, thinking _'Aside from the whole 'drag-me-into-an-alley-and-attack-me' part, they seem like decent people...'_ and letting a small snort of laughter escape at the thought.

I  
><em>Hokage Residence<em>  
><em>A short while afterwards<em>  
>I<p>

"Naruto, we need to talk." Naruto paused at the sound of his father's voice. Why was he here? Naruto stepped fully into his home, closing the door. "About?" Minato was sitting down, in casual clothes, a serious look on his face. "Why did you accept Hiashi's offer?" He said, and Naruto was taken aback. It happened this morning and his father already knew? "I.. well, it sounded like a good idea... at the time. Hiashi said he'd already talked to you about it, too..." He said, hesitating as he said it. Minato groaned and placed his head in his hands. "You realise, Naruto, that it's a political ploy to get the Hyuuga clan closer to me, the Hokage, right? I denied him." Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "Oh." Sheepishly looking down slightly. "If the other clans hear about this, there's going to be an uproar... Just like when they found out about how friendly you were getting with the Uchiha's Clan heir. Except worse because there were no previous ties!" Minato sounded mildly annoyed at best, but Naruto felt the need to defend himself. "Well, it's helping Konoha's unity isn't it? That's an excuse right?" He said, causing Minato to pause for a second. "I could use that... but no, it still isn't an excuse! Look, try not to get into any more trouble, okay?" Naruto nodded at his father, who stood up. "Great. Now, I have things to do... problems to solve... general Hokage business. Oh, by the way... Jiraiya-sensei is coming back to Konoha. You'll be leaving with him for a few months. Have fun." With that, he left, leaving Naruto to digest that information, slightly gobsmacked.

Naruto's eye twitched. "Well, that's great." He sighed and walked over to the couch, falling down onto it. He had no idea what to do now. Bored, he glanced around the room, his eye falling onto his book. "... I guess reading isn't so bad." He shrugged slightly as he picked his book back up, and started reading where he left off.

I  
><em>Konoha Academy<em>  
><em>5 years later<em>  
>I<p>

Naruto's eye's snapped open as he felt a quick, soft jab in his ribs. He found himself looking into the eyes of Iruka Umino. An annoyed Iruka Umino. "Well well, Naruto Uzumaki... Are we too good to pay attention in class, now? Arrogant, confident in your skill to pass the upcoming test?" A vein twitched in Iruka's forehead, signalling how angry he was. Sasuke, sitting to Naruto's right, was looking on, forehead resting on his hand with a look of 'Oh Kami, are you stupid?' on his face. Naruto blinked. "Uh... Sorry, Sensei. I didn't get much sleep last ni-" A hand slammed down onto the table next to him. Despite himself, he jolted up, sitting nearly straight in his seat now, rather than slouched on the table as he was before. "Get to sleep earlier then, Naruto-san." Said the annoyed Chunin as he turned around and returned to the front of the class. "Now, as I was saying... The test to see who becomes a Genin is coming up tomorrow. You should all study and get prepared for it... Make sure you get your sleep." He said, glaring at the Jinchuuriki, "You'll need it. Good Luck all of you, class dismissed." As he said the final statement, he promptly walked out of the room. Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "He woke me up to announce that class was over? I was having a dream too..." Naruto groaned as he stood up and stretched, nearly in unison with the rest of the class who began either filing out or grouping up to stare religiously at the two boys. "Of?" Sasuke asked curiously, as he vaulted over the desk and started walking to the door. Naruto followed as he replied; "I dreamt about when I was a kid. Before I had started tutoring Hinata-chan..." He shrugged slightly as they made their way to the front door to the Academy. They both knew that they'd have to move fast as they exited, as the regular horde of girls were following them, and wouldn't stop unless they both sped away. They exchanged glances, and stepped out into the light. Immediately, Naruto and Sasuke jumped, backflipping to land on their feet on top of the roof.

"Hurry!" Was all they heard from inside as the doors were thrown open again, as they both turned and started running. Shortly after, they dropped into an alleyway and Henge'd, turning into a pair of average civillians, stepping out onto the street and walking casually, chatting about 'that one girl across the street' as the fangirls ran past, almost scarily devoted into tracking the two down. As soon as they dissapeared from sight, the two of them dropped Henge and sighed in relief. "You know, if they actually turned their devotion towards being a good Shinobi, we would have a truly scary force here in Konoha." Sasuke said as Naruto nodded in agreement. "True, that." They both paused, before turning around slowly and walking in the opposite direction. "So. Do you need to do anything?" Naruto asked, getting a headshake from Sasuke. "Nope. You?" Naruto shrugged slightly in response to the question. "Not that I'm aware of, but..." He stopped as he felt a slight breeze of wind, and a hand on his shoulder. He glanced sideways and saw Sasuke was in the same position. "So. How about something to eat?" The voice was reserved, yet cheerful. "Nii-san!" Was all Sasuke said, as he looked over his shoulder. "Aren't you meant to be on a mission?" His eyes slightly wide. Itachi shrugged, a small smile on his face. "I was, but Hokage-sama called it off. I just got back." He paused for a second. "I'll treat you both." Immediately, Naruto's ear twitched. "Ramen?" He asked hopefully. Itachi shrugged "If you don't mind, Sasuke." He looked at his little brother, who shook his head resigned. Once free ramen was offered, Naruto couldn't be stopped. Naruto grinned "Yahoo! Ramen!" Still with a wide grin on his face, he began marching off, humming. Both Uchiha's followed, almost apprehensively.

I  
><em>Ichiraku Ramen<em>  
><em>Two minutes after<em>  
>I<p>

"Okay, let's have two beef ramen, one pork ramen, and three miso ramen!" Naruto sat down, a wide grin splitting his face as Itachi's jaw dropped. "D-does he always eat this much?" His voice incredulous, his thoughts obviously on the money he was about to lose. Sasuke nodded before he too, sat down. "You should know these things before you offer Naruto free ramen." Naruto was still grinning widely. Shortly afterwards, the first two bowls arrived, and Naruto began to eat up. "Itadakimasu!" Itachi resolutely closed his jaw. "Miso ramen, please." He said, nudging Sasuke, who sighed. "Pork Ramen, thanks." They both watched Naruto as he finished his second bowl, patting his stomach. "As good as ever, Teuchi-ossan!" He exclaimed as the second round appeared in front of him. Teuchi was grinning at the Uchiha brothers. "I see you offered to pay for Naruto's ramen. I appreciate the patronage, friend." He said, jovially, getting a small, sad nod out of Itachi. Naruto grinned as he was about to start eating again, before a hand reached through the entrance to the shop and yanked him off his chair, getting a yelp out of him.

"You sneaky little bastard, I'LL KILL YOU!" Hana Inuzuka, face furious, threw him directly at a wall. "WHAT DID I DO?" Naruto managed to yell out, before he was caught out of the air by Kotaro Uchiha. "She may or may not have found out that you've been monitering her with one of your seal-things. You may want to run." Naruto's blood ran cold, for a second. "But I didn't..." In his mind, he heard the faint laughter of Jiraiya from their last meeting. "Oh, that absolute ba-" He said, before being interupted by the rage of an Inuzuka trying to get past her teammate. "Well, Sorry Ramen-chan, but I have to leave now, BYE!" Before he took off at full speed. Kotaro now started to help hold back Hana, leaving Itachi and Sasuke to simply blink in unison. "Should we... help him?" Sasuke said, bewildered. Itachi slowly shook his head, retreated back into the Ramen stand, and sat down on Naruto's seat. "I'm feeling hungry after that mission anyways." With Naruto's ramen already on it's way to his mouth.

I  
><em>With Naruto<em>  
>I<p>

Naruto had only one idea where to go, at this point. The Uchiha Clan Compound would be no help to him, Hana was allowed in because of her connection to Kotaro. His house would be no help, because of her connection to his mother. The only place left for him was the Hyuuga Clan Compound. He was probably meant to go there anyways, so it was a win-win situation. He hopped over a fence, and turned down an alley-way, still at full sprint. He couldn't hear Hana anymore, but she was an Inuzuka. She would be able to follow him no matter where he went. It only took him a couple of minutes to reach the Hyuuga Clan Compound, but when he did he stopped running, almost stopping to a dead halt, before walking calmly with a schooled expression on his face into the compound. The Hyuuga guards nodded their heads slightly to him, and he nodded back, before he began to make his way towards the room of Hinata Hyuuga. When he reached the room, he nodded to the guard standing next to the door, and lightly knocked on the solid wooden frame of the sliding door. "Hinata-chan? It's me." He said, and paused. He glanced at the guard, hand raised slightly as if to open the door, posing a silent question. The guard nodded ever so slightly, and Naruto slowly pushed the door open. He saw nothing but Hinata's room. His eyes narrowed. Lately he had been trying to impress upon Hinata the true Shinobi way, of ambushes and deceit, but this made him cautious. Maybe she was taking it to heart. Very much so. He stepped back slightly, before shrugging. What was the most harm that could happen. He walked in. Nothing. Looking around, he saw nothing either. He walked in further, only to feel a searing jab land on his back, right next to his spine. He hissed in pain, rolling forward, hearing several other strikes lash the air where he was standing. He got to his feet in time to catch another strike by the wrist, right in front of his face. "Nice ambush. But you didn't put me down with the first hit." He grinned, as he grabbed Hinata's other hand and pushed her wrists together, making it hard for her to wrestle them free. She had a small sad look on her face, before she realised how close she was to Naruto. Sure, this happened alot in their training sessions, but she never really got used to it. A small blush appeared on her face, growing brighter and redder every second.

"A-ano, Naruto-kun... c-could you let me go please?" She asked, causing Naruto to blink. "Oh, uh, sure." He blushed slightly too also, as he rubbed the back of his head. "Anyways, I was thinking that we could prepare for tomorrow's test today rather than do our usual training." He stepped back slightly, as Hinata nodded, her eyes downcast. "That sounds alright with me..." She said, causing Naruto to smile. "Alright then, let's go to the dojo, then?" She nodded again, and they both started walking. Naruto, of course, made small-talk on the way. Bantering about how she had improved, the weather, and other little things. Hinata merely nodded politely.

They arrived at the dojo, hearing the sounds of fighting. Curiously, Naruto edged open the door and poked his head in, before opening it the whole way. Hinata followed. The two who were fighting paused, and upon seeing Hinata, both bowed slightly, then continued. It was Neji and his father, Hizashi. They were rapidly trading blows, so fast that it made Naruto blink. Soon, with a simple juuken strike, Hizashi drove his fingertips straight into Neji's chest, knocking him backwards, where he collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. "You're on form, Neji. Good job." With a small smile breaking his stoic-Hyuuga visage, he helped Neji up. "We were just leaving, Hinata-sama." He bowed, supporting the obviously exhausted Neji, before walking out.

"That was pretty intense." Naruto commented as he walked into the middle of the dojo, Hinata taking her place opposite him. "It is a normal sight here, in the dojo. Do you suggest that we... ah... spar?" She asked, but Naruto shook his head. "No, I need you help with something." He grinned slightly as an inquisitive look grew on Hinata's face.

I  
><em>Meanwhile<em>  
><em>In the Hokage's office<em>  
>I<p>

"So?" Minato looked pensively out of his window, waiting for the report from Karasu, who was standing next to him. "Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are getting along fine. You may have to look into Naruto-kuns... habits." His voice was calm, nearly monotone. Minato turned his head slightly towards the ANBU, eyebrow raised. "Oh? What habits? He has alot of them." Karasu cleared his throat slightly. "He was assaulted by a certain Hana Inuzuka, and then informed that his observation seals had been discovered, Hokage-sama." The silence hung in the air, as Minato continued to stare out the window. "... He's already finished those, has he? I judged that he wouldn't finish them, based on his progress, for atleast another month." His voice was calm, as if he didn't even hear the part about his son supposedly spying on girls. Karasu felt a single bead of sweat run down his head in exasperation. "That isn't what I was talking about, Hokage-sama..." He let a bit of exasperation bleed into his voice, causing the Hokage to shrug. "Oh no, I know that it was actually Jiraiya-sensei trying to prank Naruto. As soon as he heard about Naruto's project, he started planning. I was there." He let out a small sigh. "Where is he now?" His question seemed to shoot right at Karasu, as he turned his head to look directly at the ANBU member. Said ANBU member blinked behind his mask. "The Hyuuga Clan Compound, hiding from Hana Inuzuka and revising with Hinata Hyuuga." This statement got a nod from Minato.

"Now, about your clan, Itachi." His eyes turned seriously, zeroing in on Itachi's eyes, the owner of which reached up and took his mask off. "There are no signs of recurring rebellion, still. After your son's incident with saving Hinata Hyuuga, support began breaking off. There has been no inclination of returning to rebellious thoughts." He said, adding on the thought _'Which I'm thankful for...'_ on the end in his mind. This caused Minato to nod. "That's good. It means that we don't have to cut them off. Dismissed, Karasu." Itachi nodded, before dissapearing into a cloud of smoke. Minato smirked slightly; _'Of course he'd send a Kage Bunshin.' _was all he thought.

I  
><em>Back with Naruto<em>  
>I<p>

"A-ano... I don't want to, Naruto-kun." Hinata said, looking quite resolute for such a reserved girl as she was. This, of course, had Naruto taken aback. "Why not, Hinata-chan? I've been thinking about it for a while, it should be fine." His face said that he didn't understand the problem. Because he didn't. "If I shut down your chakra system, I could seriously damage it, or hurt you... and I'd never want to see that happen to you..." Her gaze flickered downwards, and Naruto stepped forward. "Please?" His hands clasped, looking directly at her. Hinata blushed slightly, before her gaze fully fell to his feet. "Fine." Her voice was small, but Naruto was grinning. "Thanks, Hinata!" He said as he pulled her into a hug. Instantly, her face turned bright red, but he was oblivious. After only a second, he let go, and she began poking her fingers together. "A-a-ano, should I...?" She asked, getting a nod from the blonde. Taking a deep breath, she moved her body into the basic Juuken stance, and began striking Naruto along his chakra pathway. Naruto's face contorted slightly in pain as he felt his entire body shut down, and he began to slump where he was standing. "Okay, that's enough. I don't think I can even move now... Good job, Hinata-chan!" He forced a smile onto his face, ignoring the look of blatant worry on Hinata's face.

"Okay... You might want to step back." Taking deep breaths, Naruto closed his eyes, and began to concentrate as he heard Hinata stepping back. Soon after he began, he felt his consciousness being sucked into his mindscape.

I  
><em>Naruto's Mindscape<em>  
>I<p>

**"Come to visit, have we, Uzumaki?"** The Kyuubi's voice was filled with malice, as always. "You know I don't listen to you, Kyuubi." He looked at the massive figure through the bars, his eyes narrowed. "Maybe if you let go of your hatred, we could actually talk. But every time I come in here, all I hear are spiteful remarks." He sniffed slightly in disdain, and approached the cage. The Kyuubi growled slightly, but said nothing. "In any case, Kyuubi, can I borrow some chakra?" He held out his hand, palm up. **"I don't get you, Uzumaki. Why ask for what you can take?" **It's massive voice rumbled through the sewer that was where it was sealed in Naruto's mind. "I ask because it's polite. Well?" He tapped his foot on the surface of the water, causing small ripples to radiate from underneath him along the surface of the water. **"... Take it, Uzumaki. Not like I use it in here."** With that, the demonic chakra began to swirl around him, forming a cloak around him as his consciousness rocketed to the fore.

I  
><em>Hyuuga Clan Compound<em>  
><em>With Naruto and Hinata<em>  
>I<p>

Naruto's eyes snapped open, crimson red, his whisker marks darkening and thickening, as he felt his canines grow in his mouth. This elicited a gasp from Hinata, who took several more steps back, untill her back hit a wall. She could feel the mere presence of the chakra, wild, untamed, yet held in check. It pressed down on her like a heavy blanket, yet it still felt comforting, like the presence of Naruto. She could see it radiating out from his stomach, covering his entire system with a flare of red. "Oh. It worked." Naruto said, his voice deeper now, almost gravelly. He flexed his arms, and started walking around. "Looks like Juuken just lost some of it's application on me, huh?" He grinned, showing fang. "N-naruto-kun?" Hinata's tone was slightly scared. "... Oh, right. You've never seen me using the Kyuubi's chakra. Sorry, I should've warned you." His eyes morphed back into the familiar blue ones, right before the rest of him changed back. Hinata slid down the wall, a tear welling up in each eye. Naruto quickly ran over, his words stumbling over themselves as he tried to apologise "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd react... like this. I'm used to using it with my parents, and..." Naruto was looking severely remorseful, he truly didn't realise. Hinata, was simply speechless. Feeling that kind of presence, even controlled, is not something one can handle unexpectedly, especially with the kind of person she is. For a moment, they were both quiet, untill the door was thrown open, and Naruto found himself pushed away with such force that he slid clean across the floor, landing forcefully on the wall, with the eyes of cold fury that were those of Hiashi Hyuuga boring into his, behind the advanced Juuken stance that he had taken.

"Naruto Uzumaki, are you in control?" The cold, sharp voice cut through Naruto like ice, and made him gulp. "Yes, I am... I-" He began to say, before Hinata's small voice cut him off. "He lost control, Otousama. We were sparring, and I wasn't holding back because of what he was trying to teach me... I accidentally hit him in the center of his chakra network. I'm not hurt, though." Her voice sounded shaken, and the atmosphere was frigid, tense, with Naruto looking like a deer caught in headlights. Hiashi dropped his Juuken stance. "I'll have to talk to Hokage-sama about this. I want you to leave, for now, Naruto-san." Said the Hyuuga. Naruto nodded slowly, throwing his gaze towards Hinata. Their eyes met, for a split-second, and Naruto tried to convey... well, his apologies, before he broke contact and hurriedly walked out. He passed several Hyuuga walking in the direction he came from, briskly. As he walked past, they stared at him, following his every move. Maybe testing something like that without surveillance wasn't a good idea.

I  
><em>Hokage Residence<em>  
><em>Later that night<em>  
>I<p>

"You... Sometimes, I, like, really wonder what to do with you. What the hell were you thinking? Using the Kyuubi, like, nothing!" Naruto had his eyes downcast as his mother talked to him. Or at him, whichever was more suitable. He personally wasn't sure. "Honestly, I heard from Minato what happened. You, like, lost control and nearly hurt Hinata-chan!" Her tone of voice was obviously angry, and dissapointed. Naruto, however, snapped his eyes up to his mother's. "I didn't lose control!" This elicited a sigh from Kushina, however. "According to Hinata-chan you did!" Which caused Naruto to shake his head. "She was covering for me. I wanted to see if I could use the Kyuubi to restart my chakra system when it was locked down by Juuken, and I asked her to help me. I didn't realise it would have that effect on her untill it... happened. But it worked, believe it!" His face was stubbornly set, getting yet another sigh from Kushina. "I give up. I really do." She turned, and started to walk away. Naruto just stared after her. _'It doesn't matter, it worked. I'll make it up to Hinata-chan, somehow...' _He thought, before he saw his father walk in. Minato calmly sat down across from Naruto, and looked him straight in the eye. For a couple of minutes, they sat there, just looking at eachother. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Minato nodded slightly. "Won't do it again?" Naruto nodded. "Good man." Was all Minato said before he, too, stood up and left. Naruto sighed. "Well, this day couldn't get any worse." He sighed, and walked dejectedly to his room.

"So, kid, I heard you lost control of the Kyuubi in front of a promising young lady?" The smug voice floated from his room to his ears, making his eye twitch. "Jiraiya-sensei, if you don't give me a good reason why you planted my observation seals on Hana-chan, then I will kill you." He said, which got a snort of laughter from his godfather. "You're not dead, so you have obviously learnt something of value to you as a Shinobi. Plus, that information will become highly valuable later in life when I can blackmail her." Jiraiya said with a slightly perverted grin on his face, causing Naruto to groan and throw himself on his bed. "Something you need, then?" His voice holding a tone of resignation. Jiraiya gracefully fell off the ceiling and landed on his feet. "Did you really lose control?" He asked, serious now. Naruto shook his head. "Good. I'm assuming you said so that you weren't permanently kicked out and kept away from your little princess?" He grinned, causing Naruto to sigh and look at him. "She said it." Which got a small whistle out of Jiraiya. "The Hyuuga heiress lying to her daddy for you? You ARE working fast, aren't ya?"

Naruto growled, specifically at him. "Shut up and go away, Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya shrugged, and stepped up onto the windowsill. "Sure, kid. Come see me when you pass, I may or may not have a present for you." With which, he was gone. Naruto shook his head, and picked up a book from his bedside table, kicking off his sandals, before beginning to read.

I  
><em>Konoha Academy<em>  
><em>The next morning<em>  
>I<p>

Naruto sat in class, bored. He had come early for the test, as had Sasuke, and they were sitting there, waiting for the others. Iruka was sitting up front, calmly working on some paperwork. Shortly, others of their class began walking in. Soon enough, everyone was assembled, so Iruka began to call the students to the front of the class, going in alphabetical order. This put Sasuke and Naruto at the bottom of the list. It was the basic test, and each student performed fairly well. Eventually, Sasuke was called up, and he performed excellently, as expected. Next came Naruto.

"Alright, Uzumaki, just perform a **Henge no Jutsu **_(Transformation Technique) _and then a **Bunshin no Jutsu**_(Clone Technique)_ and we're done for this part of the test. This will get you the most marks, as the Ninjutsu component is the most important." Iruka said, obviously bored. At this, Naruto grinned, which made Iruka narrow his eyes. That wasn't the grin of a cocky 'prodigy', that was the grin of a prankster. "Okay then, Iruka-sensei. One Henge coming right up!" Naruto said, as he formed the Ram seal. Something clicked in Iruka's mind right then. '_The Henge no Jutsu requires more handseals than that...' _was what he thought as smoke appeared everywhere, slowly dissapating to show a busty, naked woman standing in a seductive pose, where before was Naruto Uzumaki. Blood fountained from Iruka's nose. "NARUTO UZUMAKI, YOU DAMNED BRAT, BE SERIOUS!" He yelled as he clasped his hand over his nose, and shut his eyes. Meanwhile, the transformation cancelled and Naruto was laughing uproariously, holding his sides. Nearly the whole class that witnessed this palmed their face.

After Naruto and Iruka had both recovered, Naruto performed the regular Henge and created a Kage Bunshin. He couldn't be bothered making an actual Bunshin, and Iruka seemed too distracted to notice the difference before Naruto dispelled the Kage Bunshin.

"Anyways... Once I call out all of your names, proceed to the next room to collect your hitai-ate, which will signify your passing into the rank of Genin." Iruka stated, as he began to list of the names. Several members of the class didn't have their names called out. Their friends quickly consolidated them. Iruka finished the list, and as the people who passed began to stand up, he quickly cleared his throat. "Oh, I almost forgot. Rookie of the Year is... Naruto Uzumaki." A round of applause went around the class, while Naruto blinked, looked at Sasuke, blinked again, before slowly walking out with the rest of the class. "As if you got Rookie of the Year! I swear I was going to get it..." Sasuke grumbled, as they both walked to the other room. Walking through the open door, they were handed the standard Konoha hitai-ate, both of them quickly securing it around their foreheads, before taking their seats in the new room. Mizuki, the other Chunin-sensei of their class, was standing at the front. "Yes, yes, hurry up and take your seats. I have to announce the teams." He rolled his eyes slightly. Naruto shrugged slightly, resting his head on his arms. Suddenly, he heard his name, which caused his eyes to rise up to Mizuki. "Team Seven, Naruto Uzumaki," Mizuki paused for a second, before sighing slightly, "Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga." He shook his head before continuing. Soon enough, Mizuki finished reading out the list, and walked out the door. "Your Jounin-sensei's will be here soon. You're all officially Genin, congratulations." Then silence.

Slowly, the new Genin shifted positions in the room so that they were sitting in teams. Hinata nodded slightly. "Hello, Sasuke-san, Naruto-kun." She smiled slighly as Naruto grinned at her. "Hey, Hinata-chan!" He said as Sasuke nodded back. "Hello, Hinata-san..." He turned his head away slightly, looking towards the door as the first Jounin-sensei entered. "Team Eight?" He called out. It was Asuma Sarutobi. Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka stood up and walked out with him. Naruto shrugged. "No real surprises there, huh..."

Over the course of the next ten or so minutes, the rest of the teams had left, leaving the three of them sitting, quietly. Sasuke and Hinata were both looking around with curious looks on their faces. Naruto was merely holding his head in his hands, face down on the desk. "Of course we'd have him... Why, tou-san, why him?"

"What do you mean by that, Naruto-kun?" Hinata tilted her head slightly, as Naruto lifted his head, and tilted his chair back so he could recline backwards. "We're going to be waiting here for an hour or so. Our Sensei is none other than Kakashi Hatake, unless I'm mistaken." His voice was toned with resignation. Honestly, he was looking forward to a Sensei he had never known, for something new. But no Sensei would be this late. Sasuke looked at Naruto, his dark eyes probing his friend's face. "Kakashi Hatake, as in, Kakashi of the Sharingan?" His question was placed slowly, and elicited only a slow nod out of Naruto. "Now, If you two will excuse me..." Naruto said as he closed his eyes, "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when he arrives." Both blinked at the suddenness of his statement.

I  
><em>Konoha Academy<em>  
><em>An hour later<em>  
>I<p>

"Good Morning, Team Seven!" Kakashi stepped into the room with a cheery look on his face, his patented eye-smile at full blaze. He got no response, causing his eye to open, surveying his new team. All three of them were asleep. Hinata was even leaning slightly on Naruto. _'Cute.' _He thought, as he silently walked up to them. Grinning under his mask, he slowly moved his hand into position to slap Naruto with intent to wake him up. Of course, it was a light slap, merely intended to tap him on the cheek once or twice, but nevertheless he was surprised when Naruto's hand shot up and caught his hand by the wrist. One of Naruto's eyes lazily opened. "I was wondering when you'd get here..." His eye flicked towards his left, where Hinata was situated, leaning against his shoulder. "Umm... Wake up, Hinata-chan..." He said as he nudged Sasuke with his elbow. They both began to stir. Hinata awoke, paused for a moment before blushing moderately. Sasuke grumbled, "He's finally here? Thank kami..." While he made himself fully awake. "Anyways," Kakashi began "This is the part where I would normally test you all on your teamwork, but as the precedent has already been set," He said, "I don't think that will be neccesary. Since nobody else is here, we may as well use this classroom to introduce ourselves! I'll start."

He cleared his throat, and started to talk. "My name is Kakashi Hatake, known as Copy Ninja Kakashi or Kakashi of the Sharingan. I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes... My dreams for the future... hmm... As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies." His eye arched in it's unique way of smiling, as Naruto looked at him blankly. "You next then, Naruto!"

"Well then... My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like Ramen, training with kaa-san and tou-san, and reading. I dislike people who dislike Ramen and people who treat others as tools rather than people. My dream for the future is to be able to protect Konoha with the power I was given, and to become Hokage. My hobbies include reading, studying and experimenting with fuuinjutsu, training and practising with my chakra, and sometimes pranking people." He smirked slightly as he resisted the temptation to say 'Believe It!' at the end of his introduction. Kakashi nodded slightly as he finished. "Okay then, now it's your turn Hinata." Still smiling, he turned to the Hyuuga Heiress.

"Umm, My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I like... cinnamon rolls... and training. I don't dislike anything in particular... My dream for the future... is to be able t-to stand up to my father. My favourite hobby is flower pressing..." She cast her eyes down slightly. Kakashi nodded. "Okay then, short and sweet. Your turn now, Sasuke."

With a small sigh, Sasuke looked up. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and I dislike people who do not aim as high as they can. I like sparring, and hanging out with my friends. My dream for the future is to catch up to my older brother, Itachi, and my hobbies are training and taking walks."

Kakashi nods thoughtfully. "Okay then. I'll see you all first thing in the morning at Training Ground Seven. Seeya!" With his patented eye-smile, Kakashi waved with one hand while he made a handseal with the other, before dissapearing in a puff of smoke.

I  
><em>Hokage Residence<em>  
><em>Later that day<em>  
>I<p>

"As if he just let us go! I was expecting some... well, something!" Naruto said exasperatedly, while his mother held in her laughter at his display. "Well, it's only like, your first day as a Genin. Calm down, Naruto." She smiled at him, but he crossed his arms. "Fine. I'm going to go see tou-san." He said as he turned to walk out. "Stay safe!" Kushina shouted after him as he left.

"Damned Kakashi and his damned... everything." He kicked a stone absentmindedly as he walked. It was relatively late, and he had just gotten home from spending some time with Sasuke and Hinata, who weren't really acquainted before today. _'It's kinda weird... all three of us being put on a team together. Tou-san wouldn't do that, not without good reason. I mean, are we even a particularly good team?' _Naruto paused for a moment, mulling it over in his mind. _'Okay, we're a well rounded team. With Hinata for support and tracking, Sasuke for Long to Mid ranged Ninjutsu and me for Taijutsu... Even then, there's room for crossover in roles. Hinata is no slouch with her Juuken, and Sasuke, too, is good enough in Taijutsu. I feel like the lone wolf, overspecialised in Taijutsu. Well, what if-' _He was brought out of his thoughts as he ran straight into someone, having not noticed them. He landed on his rear, looking up. "Sorry, I didn't see you... there... Jiraiya-sensei?" He raised an eyebrow at his godfather, who was standing there arms crossed with a small smile on his face. "You never came to see me." Jiraiya's grin grew as Naruto stood up. Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Uhh, yeah, I forgot. Guess who our Sensei is." His tone of voice went nearly flat, a dull look on his face. Jiraiya chuckled. "So you did get Kakashi... well, think of it as a lineage. The Nidaime trained Hiruzen-sensei, He trained me, I trained your father, who trained Kakashi. It only makes sense that Kakashi would train you in turn! Anyways, follow me. Your father will try to flay me alive, or at least lock me up if he knew I was teaching you what I am about to."

Curiosity winning out, Naruto followed Jiraiya, who took him to the edge of the village to a clearing in the forest. A small brook ran through the clearing, filling it with the sound of gurgling water. "Okay, Naruto, watch me real close." Jiraiya's face went serious. "This technique is one your father made, and taught to both me and Kakashi. Minato believes that you should learn it later, when you've shown the ability to handle a technique this high-ranked, but I've been watching you over the past couple of years. Right now all you have is **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **_(Shadow Clone Technique)_ and your control over the Kyuubi's chakra. Yeah, I know despite your reading you haven't been able to learn a single ninjutsu. Plus, I don't feel able to rest properly as your godfather knowing that the moment things get serious in a fight, you will turn to the Kyuubi. I know you well enough that you should be able to pull this off relatively easily... especially considering what you've been training when no one else can see." That last sentence caused Naruto's eyes to widen. "You... know about that?" Jiraiya nodded. "Indeed I do. Even if you can control the first tail of the Kyuubi's chakra, that doesn't mean you should rely on it. Your control over it's shape however, is what leads me to believe that you can do... this!" Suddenly, Jiraiya held his arm straight out, palm up, as a blue ball of energy formed in his hand. "**Rasengan! **_(Spiralling Sphere!)_" Naruto simply stood there, his gaze fixated. He held up his hand, to which Jiraiya's face split with a grin. He dropped a water-filled balloon into Naruto's hand. Naruto looked up, the obvious question in his eyes. "You have to learn it in steps, my boy. First, pop that balloon by rotating the chakra inside of it." Naruto smirked. "Oh, really? That's basic chakra control!" He said as he started to rotate his chakra, pushing it into the balloon. It began to deform slightly, as he felt the water inside moving... but it didn't even look close to popping. Naruto frowned. "That... should've worked." He tried again, to no avail.

After a couple of minutes of letting Naruto try and fail, Jiraiya snatched the balloon out of his hand. "Every day after you're done with your team and Kakashi, come back here. Use a Kage Bunshin to fool your parents, and anyone else, if you have to. See you tomorrow, then?" He grinned as Naruto nodded, and started to walk off. His grin faded into a smile as he watched Naruto walk off, noticing that the sun was setting. _'He really does remind me of you, Minato. More than you'd think. He definitely has a lot of Kushina's personality, though.' _He chuckled slightly at the thought, and sat down on a nearby rock. _'I might go do some research...'_

I  
><em>Son of a Legend<em>  
><em>Chapter Two<em>  
><em>Complete<em>  
>I<p>

* * *

><p><strong>And I think I'll wrap it up on that. Not much in the way of action in this chapter, more character building and just setting the scene, so to speak. Another big time-skip, I know, but I kinda didn't feel like writing a whole of five years before Naruto became a Genin. Lazy of me, but hey, at least there's room for flashbacks now. Not much to say in conclusion of this chapter. If you guys, as my readers, have any questions to ask, feel free to PM me.<strong>

**Here's my question for this chapter:**

**What do you, as a reader, think about Naruto's control over, and interactions with, the Kyuubi?**

**Just a note that I'd like some feedback on. I have a very... solid idea of how the interactions are going to turn out, in light of the current events in the manga.**

**Anyways, for now, untill the next chapter... Talarion out.**

**Seeya's.**

_**P.S: I hope I won't take so long to update again. I am still apologising profusely to you all!**_


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